"From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later." But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.
They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?" But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It isa privilege to come together with you
We welcome you to worship in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
Have you ever felt discouraged because you keep repeating the same lesson over and over, wondering if you’ll ever pass the test? The disciples are having a difficult time grasping the Truths in a series of lessons that the Lord needed them to learn in these final months to prepare them for His death. They just couldn’t seem to get it. The greatest example is Peter's response in chapter 8, when he called the Lord aside and rebuked Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." And Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s."
In our passage today Jesus is giving the disciples the same lesson, who still can’t get the picture about His death and resurrection, in preparation for the ministry that lays ahead of them, in addition to a difficult lesson about humility. The Cambridge Dictionary defines humility as "the quality of not being proud or not thinking that you are better than other people." In the culture in which we live today, where everybody is an arrogant worshiper of self, the idea of putting others first is a foreign concept to a narcissistic society where everybody demands to be number one, humility is considered to be vulgar, and offensive word.
In a culture where everybody is consumed with himself, people manipulate the truth to be the way they want until what is true has been completely reversed. The lack of critical thinking skills required to discern fact from fiction, people are questioning even the most basic truths that have been universally accepted for centuries. With the rise of alternative facts, a trend that is symptomatic of a much larger problem, we are well on the road to producing a people who are mentally incapable of accepting anything as being true, including fundamental concepts and beyond. We are confused because we have allowed the author of confusion, the father of lies to infiltrate our lives. We cannot say that gravity exists at your house but because I don’t believe in gravity, it doesn’t exist in mine. Gravity exists whether we believe in it or not. And so does God. We’re reluctant to stand up for what the Bible says is true. Because we don’t want to be considered offensive. We’re not called to be tolerant of evil, we’re called to overcome it with good! The vine doesn’t support the root, the root supports the vine.
I believe it is imperative that we take a firm stand against the erosion of objective truth to ensure a future where truth and rationality prevail. That doesn’t mean we have to be hateful or mean about that, but we have to speak truth in love to a generation that is being deceived by the father of lies and deception, lest we ourselves be condemned. We’re not going to escape the consequences of our actions for dishonoring God, allowing evil to masquerade as righteousness. We’re going to pay for that, if we don't humble ourselves, get on our knees and pray, and repent for our willful disobedience to a Holy and Righteous God.
Let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Amen
Today's Message: The Way To Greatness
Have you noticed when you know the truth, when you understand the truth, how difficult it can be to be humble, when you know that you're right about what’s most important in the entire world? That's not to say I’m right about everything, I'm sure there are a lot of things that I err in, but I do know and understand the Word of God. Because pride has gripped every human heart throughout history, it's important that we humble ourselves and fight against being proud, even when we know we're right, because pride is damning sin that seeks to replace God with self. Pride is the sin that produced Satan's rebellion against God. God hates pride.
It’s hard to be humble, but it’s necessary. Because of the internal conflict of being humble in the face of unwavering self-confidence, well-known country singer Mac Davis, even composed a song titled, "It's hard to be humble" in 1980, and the song's lyrics eloquently included the line "Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way," which achieved international success because of it's relatable theme that resonated with it's listeners, encapsulating the universal difficulty between greatness and being humble. In today's society, where self-promotion and personal branding has taken center stage, pride makes it’s very hard for people to come to Christ, because pride has to be broken, and our own desires and ambitions must be set aside in order for people to be saved. Not just once, but continually broken as long as we remain in our fallen flesh. One of the greatest evidences of pride is the lack of patience with God, and one of the reasons for our suffering is that we might learn patience.
Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 9, verses 30-37. Mark 9:30-37. I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds. Let us open our hearts and minds and see how the Lord might use us to impact the lives of others.
"From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, "The
Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill
Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later." But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.
They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?" But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me."
Let's look at verse 30, "From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it." From there, meaning they left the region where they were, where He delivered the young boy from a very powerful unclean spirit that possessed him for many years, throwing him into convulsions and making him deaf and mute and now they begin their down through Galilee, moving in the direction of Capernaum. The idea here is that they are not going linger around, they're passing through. Remember, even though He’s going through Galilee as He had done many times, this time there's no public ministry, that is over, because they have already made their decision about Him, which explains why He does not want anyone to know about it. He needs to spend time alone with His disciples teaching and preparing them for the future.
Verse 31, "For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later." Again we see Him reminding them of His coming death and resurrection, that He will be delivered into the hands of men, He will be killed and He will rise on the third day, while this is not extensive teaching, it is certainly intensive because they need to understand, a crucified Messiah doesn’t make sense, it's unacceptable to them. Even to this day, the Jews have absolutely no idea how Isaiah 53 relates to the Messiah. In fact, it's blasphemous to them that the Messiah would have to die and become a sin offering. Luke tells us He said, "Let these words sink into your ears" indicating they were having difficulty accepting it. In the Greek it's the verb "tithémi," which conveys the idea of laying something in your ear until you can understand it. Judas certainly played a role in delivering Him up to
the religious leaders, who in turn played a role in delivering Him up to
Pilate, who delivered Him up to be crucified by the Roman executioners
by the predetermined plan of God He had to die.
For those of us who are on this side of the cross and the resurrection, it's clear, it's the heart and soul of what it means to be a Christian. It's important to understand that's only the means to an end, it's not the end. As we see the glory of the Lord being revealed to us on the pages of Scripture, we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit to reflect the image of Christ in the world. The more I study the Bible, the more I learn about Him, the more I love Christ. It is such a privilege for me to be able to preach, but I must confess the greatest privilege of ministry is to pursue the knowledge of Christ, that I may know Him. That's really what the Bible is all about, knowing Christ. The more I come to know Him, the more wondrous He becomes to me. It is such a tragedy that so many in the church today seem to have lost their enthusiasm for knowing everything that can be known about our Lord Jesus Christ, settling for a superficial understanding. The lack of enthusiasm can easily be seen by the diminishing desire to be changed into His image. I am taken aback by the reality that "comfortable" Christians are far more content to be like the world than the Lord they claim to love. It is disheartening to witness this deeply concerning discrepancy between their professed faith and their actions of pursuing their lusts and desires. The world desperately needs to see our testimony consistently being lived out in order to believe Christ did indeed deliver us of our sin. We allowed ourselves to become a little too comfortable
in crossing over the boundaries that are clearly defined in God’s Word.
We have forgotten to serve the One Who redeemed us from this fallen world
in the first place. We
have to make a choice. Are we going to continue to live for the world,
and deny Christ. Or are we going to live for Christ and deny the world. I believe the Church of Christ is struggling with notion that we can do both
Verse 32, "But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him." You have to wonder if they were all thinking "I'm not going to say anything, don't you remember last time when Peter opened his mouth, he was called Satan!" Matthew adds "they were deeply grieved." Luke tells us the reason they didn't understand is because it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it. The Lord held it back from them because they kept rejecting the whole idea. Rejection is our built in defense mechanism to shut off our brains sensors from understanding what we don't want to accept. They we afraid to ask because they didn't want any more information.
We're seeing a lot of contentment with unbelief in the church today. We can't just disregard the uncomfortable parts of God's Word because we dislike or disagree with what He says. I assure you the problem isn't with God, it's within us. It's called sin. We must be honest with ourselves about who God says we are and stop participating in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, by chasing personal contentment and satisfaction. I'm convinced that as God's people, we can do better. The Good News is we still have time to humble ourselves, and repent. But we have to be willing to be confronted with the Truth, regardless of how uncomfortable it is to hear or how far it is beyond our belief. The Lord will allow our disbelief, but who wants to live that way? We're not going to escape being called out for our actions.
Verse 33, "They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?" They had just returned from traveling and they are back in Capernaum, which has been sort of the headquarters for Jesus' ministry, they are most likely at Peter's house and He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?" In his parallel account, Luke tells us "An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest." By the way, this isn't the first time He confronts their competitiveness. James and John even asked their mother to go to Jesus and plead their case to sit on his right and his left hand. While they were walking, they were having a heated discussion about who was the greatest among them. So Jesus questions them about what they were discussing, not because He needed them to tell Him, He knew the sin that was in their hearts. He's about to confront their pride and give them a lesson on humility.
Pride is very hard to overcome for these first generation preachers, in fact, many preachers today still struggle with it today, battling back and forth over about what God's Word says about controversial issues facing the church, teaching sin is no longer offensive to a Holy God, as long as you love, it's not only a very spiritually immature thing to do, it's a damning theology. Where there is division, the devil is in the middle. Pride is a key tactic Satan uses to create division and distrust to destroy unity. Just look at the church divisions and conflicts that happening in various churches and denominations who disagree about what is sinful. I believe if God says it's a sin, the debate is over, whether you agree or not is irrelevant. Let me be clear, if the Gospel that you're hearing does not confront sin is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is only ONE Gospel, any deviation of the Truth is a corrupt counterfeit from the father of lies. God’s grace does not alter a sinners standing before a Holy God while leaving his moral character untouched. True grace frees us from the bondage of sin and cultivates a desire to deny ungodliness and worldly desires.
Verse 34, "But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest." They kept silent with their tail between their legs, because they were ashamed. They knew they were called, commissioned to be a team to strive together for a common purpose, not selfishly seeking their own self-exaltation. Pride is a dangerous scheme Satan uses to prevents us from seeing ourselves clearly. It is conceived in the heart but unable to be contained there for long, given enough times it always wages a war within us to fight it's way out. Our culture constantly seeks to be the greatest among our peers, our self-esteem and self-worth is tied to it, that's why we have so many awards shows. You can almost hear their ridiculous debates, cutting each others throats. Peter was probably reminding them that he was the first to confess Jesus as Messiah. Then Andrew said "Not so fast, I’m the one who introduced you to Jesus in the first place. James and John saying, "Hey, we're related to Jesus, and blood's thicker than water." Or maybe Peter, James and John were saying "Look, Jesus invited us up on the mountain when He was transfigured."
Verse 35, "Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." When He sat down, it was a deliberate action because He was about to do some critical teaching. He called the twelve because they all had the same thoughts, I'm sure they knew they had better listen to what Jesus had to say. He said "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Jesus is saying greatness in His kingdom is not determined by personal status, but by sacrificial service. So, if you want to be ahead of everyone else, then go to the back of the line. I realize in this is counter cultural to everything the world teaches about the way greatness is measured, by external achievements like wealth, fame, or power, but Jesus urges us not follow the values of the world, you can't achieve greatness in the kingdom that way. Those who desire to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God, will be measured by God's standards, rather than human standards.
That brings us to verses 36-37, "Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me." Luke tells us He stood the child by His side. It’s interesting that in Aramaic the word for "child" and "servant" is the same. So He uses the child for a visual illustration to help make His point. Little children are completely dependent on adults and they have nothing to offer in return. They need to be served but are unable to serve in return. Sadly, many people today can't be bothered to do something for those who can do something for them in return. If you proclaim yourself to be a follower of Christ and believe that you are too superior to serve others, then your perspective is severely misguided. You need to recognize that Christ lives in every believer, so it doesn't matter how important you think you are, or how many degrees you have, when you turn away from one of His own, you are also rejecting Him. "Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me." In other words, how you treat another believer is how you treat Christ. In Matthew 18, He says "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
Even Jesus, the Son of man, did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many. And these guys are arguing about who’s the greatest? The late theologian John Stott rightly said "Pride is your greatest enemy, humility is your greatest friend." Pride foolishly blinds us to the flaws and faults, within ourselves while failing to recognize the talents, skills, and achievements of those around us. By learning to recognize our own imperfections and embrace the goodness in others, we can cultivate genuine humility, and foster healthier relationships, overcoming the pitfalls of pride. If you’re interested in truly making a difference as a follower of Christ, start by serving others in His name. There is nothing God can't do if we'll live our lives for His glory.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved